


A Girl Like Smoke

by slowtownes



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Max is the rude rich kid, Nathan is the scrawny time traveler, Swapped roles AU, other characters that are not important to the story, warren kate and others are in the vortex, while victoria rachel nathan chloe are not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-04 21:14:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17311976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowtownes/pseuds/slowtownes
Summary: Maxine is the rich and stuck-up queen bitch of Blackwell Academy. A vulture.Nathan is the nerd who gets picked on for his passion for photography.One day, something happens to Nathan that changes his life, possibly permanently. And from that day on, he and Maxine somehow grow closer. As Nathan discovers her past and problems, he decides he'll change her life for the better, even if it means ruining his own.//One update at least once every month//





	1. Rich and Popular Maxine

**Author's Note:**

> Summary:  
> Nathans threatened by Maxine, only peaking his curiosity about her even more.
> 
> I apologize for any errors and mistakes!!  
> First fic, let's see how this goes.

There she was. An all snotty and stuck-up girl with her parent’s money to support her. She keeps her head high while walking through the hallways, and doesn’t talk to anyone but the other rich kids. Their names? Maxine Caulfield, Warren Graham, and Kate Marsh. The rest of their group are just kids who leech off of them and their money for booze and drugs.

Nathan hates them. He’s heard before that Warren is so deranged he brings a gun to school each day. Of course, the person who had spread that rumor was found, and Maxine nearly sent him to the hospital. She doesn’t allow friends to get hurt. It’s sweet-ish, in a crazed way.

“Hey! Nate!” Victoria, his nerdy and sweet friend. “Why are you looking at her? She’s a maniac,” It’s true, he was looking at the Vortex Club circle they’ve set up near a tree not too far away from Nathan and his friends.

“So?” She continues.

“I just don’t get it. How can someone so small and cute be so… dangerous?” He pauses at his words. Fuck he used the word ‘cute’. He’s not going to hear the end of it anytime soon.

“Cute?” She starts chuckling. “Well, you have to admit, she does have an amazing face. And her body's like a supermodel’s.” Oh, he was wrong. She couldn’t care less.

“Yeah, it’s weird. Like, why can’t she be nice? She looks like us, like nerds.”

Rachel suddenly comes around. “We look like nerds?” She says. Her hands are on her hips and she looks down to the two, sitting at a picnic table.

“Not you, you look like a punk.”

“Gee, thanks.” She smiles an award-winning smile. “You kinda do, too.” She sits down next to Victoria and across from Nathan with an apple in her hand.

“When’s the next Vortex Club Party?” Taking a bite, she looks to Nathan.

“I think… next Friday, why? You actually go to those things?” He asks, taking the words out of Victoria’s mouth.

“I only go for the alcohol. You should come too, Vic and Nate. It’ll loosen you up. Maybe you’ll even get laid.” She says, a smirk playing at her lips. Her voice purrs like a cat's, and she takes another bite of the fruit.

“W-what?!” Nathan’s mouth goes agape and he turns his head to Rachel. “What the hell?!”

“See? You’re too… you. Just go, you might meet someone. Don’t gotta get laid.” He looks to Maxine again, and she’s gone. The rest of the group stayed though. They're still chatting, hands being thrown into the air for dramatic effect. “I’ll see you guys around. I’m gonna leave.” They all wave goodbye, and he gets up from the table.

* * *

Maxine is seen again by Nathan in photography class. Her hands are nimble and work their way around the page with the blue pen she uses delicately. She's not actually taking notes, but instead doodling things that look a lot like swirly tornadoes. He's sure he's seen those on the Vortex Club posters'. Maybe she's making a new design?

Nathan's eyes stay fixated on her for a very long time, but when Jefferson calls on him, he realizes that he's looked too much.

"Nathan, since you are just so obviously interested in Miss Caulfield, why don't you answer a question that relates to the class?" Giggles and snickers follow up after the question, and he's sure his face must be the equivalent to a ripe tomato. Maxine looks back to Nathan and stops scribbling the swirls. She glares at him with her piercing eyes which only enhances the laughter.

"What is the contrast of light and dark in a photograph that can achieve a sense of volume in the art?" Mr. Jefferson asks.

Nathan pauses, he wasn't paying any attention to the class.  _It's embarrassing to admit, but I was focused on her..._ He says in his head.

" _Chiaroscuro_ " Victoria whispers near him, trying to help him out.

"C-Chiaroscuro!" He practically yells. His face remains a bright pink and he looks to Maxine who seems annoyed still. 

"Thanks, Victoria, but I'm very sure Nathan can answer that on his own," The bells rings, and all students pack up and start to leave. "Ah, class dismissed."

He looks to where Maxine sits, but she is already gone. She's like smoke, he thinks. She disappears too quick, and you can never actually touch her. And she always looks so mesmerizing. 

* * *

When he walks out of the classroom, Maxine is waiting for him by the door of Mr. Jefferson's class. She slams him against the wall next to it, and says something full of malice and hatred towards him, gripping his shirt.

"You don't know who you're dealing with. Trust me, you don't want to know what I can do," He doesn't look away from her small form that somehow scares him more than anything else he's seen. "I can end you so  _goddamn_ quick!" And with that said, she lets him leave.

"What the fuck?" He murmurs under his breath, his heartbeat still racing. He walks towards his locker, making sure to avoid anyone in the Vortex Club. Or anyone in general, he doesn't want another embarrassing thing to happen. He can only take so much.

Upon reaching his locker, he sees that both Rachel and Victoria are leaning against it.

"Why are you staring at Maxine, you goof?" Rachel asks.

"I-I don't know okay, Rach? I just-"

Rachel cuts him off, shouting, "Oh! Oooh! You've got a crush on the queen bitch, do ya? Oh, that's precious!" And Nathan quickly covers her mouth, not wanting to be picked on any more for looking at her. "Shh! And no, I don't!" He lets his hand drop.

"Nate, I think you should stay away from Maxine, crush or not, she's dangerous. And can hurt you. I saw she pinned you up against the wall over there," She points to the photography class's door. "And that you looked terrified."

"Wait, she  _pinned_ you against the wall?! Comedy gold!" Rachel says.

"Rachel, this is serious, Nathan could be in trouble. Why don't you go and kiss your punk-as-shit girlfriend's ass, Kari Price, or something."

Rachel snickers under her breath, and breaths out:  _"happily"_ Which makes Nathan chuckle at it.

"Whatever, I'll see you guys later," He says, swapping binders in and out of his rusty old locker. "You guys are too fuckin' weird."

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh, the poem? Not sure abt it  
> and the poster on her wall- its not actually in her room in-game. I made it up.  
> ***sighs*** these chapters are too short and boring :(

#####  _I am subjected to mental torture_

#####  _It blackens the chances for a future_

#####  _I lose concentration and behave abnormal_

#####  _My head remains in a state of abysmal_

#####  _..._

#####  _Nothing remains on my mind_

#####  _I cannot escape the bind_

#####  _What is wrong with me?_

#####  _Why am I not free?_

* * *

Max looks back in the past. Why had she agreed to be his 'Protégé'? It's endless torture. He won't let her go. His hands will touch her, and she feels her skin burn. She flinches, pulling back, and storms out of the cold and bright room. She hears her name called behind her. He doesn't chase after her, he knows she'll return eventually.

She walks through the school's hallways doing her best to keep her cool exterior. On the inside, she is breaking. Burning. It hurts.

She's thought about death too many times to count- she knows. The scars on her arms, thighs, and ankles prove it.

"Just stop. Stop, stop, stop!" Max's hands clutch her hair angerly as she exits the building. No one questions her. No one dares to talk to Maxine Caulfield, queen of Blackwell.

She's going mad, she thinks.

It's the only answer.

She remembers what she did to ~~Nathan~~ the freak earlier after her photography class with  _him._

 _"Stop, l-let me go- I-!"_  

The look of fear on his face made her happy, it made her feel. But it also made her feel something different than happiness. It's unusual. She's never felt it before for anyone but herself. What is it?

A voice comes from behind. "Max?" He touches her shoulder.

She jumps from the contact. "JE-E-E-S-s-sus, dude, you scared the shit out of me!" She turns around and lets go of her head. It's Warren.

"I can see you freaking out from a mile away, is everything okay?" He asks.

 _No, nothing's fucking 'okay' anymore!_ "Yeah, it's all good. I'm just a little stressed about school." The lies slip out of her mouth easily and naturally.

"I- Uh, okay. Makin' sure. Oh, and Kate and I are planning the next Vortex Club party for Friday, wanna join? You've always got the best ideas!"

She feels queasy. "No, Warren I'm sorry. I'm not feeling up to it. Can you get Dana to do it, or something?"

He looks down for a second and scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah... We can get Dana. You coming to the Party though?"

"I'll try." Her mind is spiraling and she sees swirls cloud her vision. "I  _really_ have to go now."

He let's her off with a nod, and she scurries away to her dorm.

* * *

She inhales.

And exhales.

_Ah, the good shit._

Now that she's medicated, she feels alright. Less panicked for sure, but her mind is still messed up. She holds the joint between two fingers and looks to a poster on her wall.  _Mark Jefferson,_ the name reads. Why didn't she ever tear that down?

Why did she have to meet him?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgib me for the short chap


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vortex Club Party

Nathan's been worried sick since Maxine had slammed him into a locker earlier this week. About himself. Obviously. 

He finds himself looking in every direction for Maxine, in case the locker wanted to be his friend again. Or the pavement, or the brick wall. She hasn't shown up a lot this week, and he wonders why. A turquoise paper with swirls is hung in front of his eyes, on a bulletin board, flipping in the wind. 

Rachel said she wanted to go, and suggested that he should too. Her girlfriend was going, who was known for staying home and being 'a lazy ass'. Something gave him a hunch that it wasn't just that though, when Rachel described her.

He felt somebody jump on top of him and he flinched. "Agh!"

"Ha, scaredy-" Rachel, speak of the devil.

"Shut the f-fuck up! I'm super paranoid because of what..." He starts to whisper, and Rachel raises her brow. "What Maxine did to me earlier this week."

She sighs and rolls her eyes. "Right, just paranoid! Nothings gonna happen, dude. Chill." She catches what he was looking at before she scared him. "The Vortex Club Party? You going?" She asks.

"Oh, uh, I was- Maybe. Should I?"

They start to walk to their picnic table. "Well, Vic and Chloe are going, and me. So at least there's gonna be some friends of yours there. You really should go, Nate. It'll be fun!" She smiles.

"I'm not that great of friends with Chloe..."

"Even more a reason to go! Get to know her!" Rachel punches his shoulder playfully.

He thinks it over. "I guess I will."

* * *

Later that night, fluorescent lights take up every corner in the school's pool room. Girls in bikinis too small and guys in trunks too loose dance in every available space, and Nathan wishes he actually hadn't come. More people flood in, forcing him further into the crowd of people.

He can spot Chloe and Rachel from afar and immediately rushes towards them.

"H-Hey guys!" He shouts over the jarring music.

"Hi Nathan! So glad you came! How are you, have you met any cool people?" She tilts her head and laughs a bit. Chloe follows with her own bright laugh.

"No... and-" He sighs. " This really isn't my scene, what do I even do?"

"Just come, we're going to the bar. We can get you some nice drinks to loosen you up a bit," She winks and smiles. She and Chloe are walking hand-in-hand, and Nathan wonders if he's third wheeling. He can see Victoria in the distance waving at the three friends from the bar.

"Hey Victoria!" Chloe says.

"Kari," She replies. Chloe's smile diminishes. "What?" She asks.

"...Nevermind." She asks for the bartender. "Hey! Can I get three beers over here?!" Chloe yells.

Nathan is a bit hesitant to crack open the bottle and drink, but Chloe, Rachel, and Victoria have no problem drinking their own drinks. Chloe calls over to Rachel and talks about leaving, saying something like 'I don't want to see her', and Rachel nods understandingly. So, Victoria and Nathan are the only two left. Nathan drinks little sips of beer at a time, clearly not used to this.

Just when he was about to speak, she got a text and told Nathan she had to go. To comfort Taylor about her mom.

When she leaves, Maxine's form is shown leaning against the wall, looking distraught. Her arms cradle each other and she looks at Victoria's drink, her eyes focusing on white fizzing at the top. He considers going up to talk to her, but he knows that'll start up a fire that can't be put out.

She walks away, to the exit. He can hear her sniffle.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's a little hard to write, but i suppose i did this to myself.  
> writing like 4 stories at once is not a clever idea guys dont do it

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me if you want more of this, and don't be afraid to suggest prompts for Life is Strange! :)  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
